
Qass. 
Book. 



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OF 



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Rev. ]Vrr. CA-REY, 



ON THE DEATH OF 



Preached on the day of his Funeral, April 19th, 1865,- in the 
First Presbyterian Church in Freeport, Illinois. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Freeport, April 19 1865. 
Rbv. I. E. Carey, Dear Sir. — Having 
listened to the discourse delivered by yeu 
to day in the Ist Presbyterian Church of 
this city upon the death of President Lin- 
coln, with the deepest interest, we lake 
this occasion to request of you a copy for 
publication if consistent with your views, 
believing our citizens generally will be 
gratified by reading it. 
D. W. C. Tanner, L. S. Cowles, 

U. D. Meacham, 
Albert Page, 
H. C. Burchard, 
Geo. F. DeForest, 
L. L. Munn, 
Freeport, April 21st 18'i5. 
To D. W. O. Tanner, Chas. L. Currier, 
Robt. Little, C. K. Judson and others 
Gentlemen: — I was taken with surprise 
Ly your request for a copy of my discourse 
preached on the 19th inst. for publication, 
since it was preached only after a very 
hasty preparation and expressed but very 
imperfectly my estimation of this great 
and good maa who has fallen. Relying 
however upon your judgment and hoping 



C. L. Currier, 
Robt. Little, 

D. S. Rohrer, 
C. A. Sheetz, 
C. K. Judson, 



.; 



some who did not hear it may be gratified 
by the perusal of it, I will endeavor to 
prepare a copy for publication. 

Very Truly Yours, 
Isaac E. Carey. 



As appropriate to th3 reciarks which I 
propose now to make, I have selected the 
following words from Prov. 10, 7 : 

"The memory of the just is blessed." 

It is very undesirable to be under the 
necessity of speaking without calm and 
careful premeditation, especially upon so 
solemn and memorable an occasion as this; 
but as this necessity was laid upon me 
last Sabbath morning, so now again to- 
day. Gladly would 1 be exempted from 
the duty which now unexpectedly devolves 
upon me; but at the same time I am not 
unconscious of a feeling of happinesss in 
being permitted to stand up before you 
once more and speak, though but imper- 
fectly and unworthily, of our beloved and 
lamented Chief Magistrate. 

On reviewing in a calmer mood the re- 
marks made in this place last Sabbath 
morning, I find myself unwilling to take 
back or modify the strong language then 
used or the sentiments then expressed. I 



still believe that the atrocious crime which 
has brought such sorrow to our hearts and 
excited within us such feelings of indigna- 
tion and horror, has no parallel for unoait- 
igated depravity and pure diabolical malig- 
nity in all the annals of history, with the 
exception of the crucifixion of the Son of 
God. I still believe that the guilty author 
of this d)ik and terrible ciime is no other 
than "that man of sin and son of perdi- 
tjijn^" — American Slavery. The fiendish 
spirit which has animated the rebellion and 
its leaders from the first, and which was 
exhibited in the Lawrence massacre, in 
the Fort Pillow massacre, tn the mining of 
Libby prison, in the plot for burning of 
New York, and, still more fearfully, in the 
persistent, barbarous and inhumafi treat- 
ment of our capcive soldiers in the prison- 
pens of the South, antained a still more 
frightful manifestation in the deliberate 
murder of our honored and beloved Presi- 
ident, thus working out its infernal malig- 
nity in full revelation, and putting the cli- 
max to all the villainies and horrors of 
which slavery is the author. It is difBcult 
justly to characterize the astounding crime. 
It is infinitely horrible. And I believe 
with Dr. Nelson of St. Louis, that the 
blood of a hundred thousand rebels would 
not atone for it. 

But, not to dwell on the depravity and 
malignity manifested in this atrocious deed, 
I judge it more appropriate to this occa- 
sion to speak, in the first place of the worth 
the greatnes-, the character, of him who 
has fallen. And in so doing I would 
speak in praise of Him who made Abraham 
Lincoln the true man he was, and used 
him as an instrument in doing a work 
which only seems the greater and more 
wonderful the longer we contemplate it. 
Perhaps I shall seem to some of you to 
speak extravagantly ; but I shall give you 
my honest, mature and not hastily form- 
ed convictions in regard to this most re- 
markable man. 

My first impressions of Mr. Lincoln 



were received in 1856, when his fame bad 
not extended far beyond the limits of our 
State. They were received from his warm 
friend and intimate acquaintance. Rev. Dr. 
Smith — at that time his pastor in Spring- 
field, now our Consul in Glasgow — who 
spoke of him in warm and flowing terms 
as possessing uncommonly noble qualities 
of head and heart. He represented him 
to be a man of excellent character and 
commanding talents. Nobody at that time 
dreamed that Abraham Lincoln would ever 
be President, but it was natural that I 
should eagerly improve the first opportu- 
nity to .see and hear the man of whom I 
had received so favorable an impression. 
This opportunity was afforded in Peoria on 
occasion of some political meeting addres- 
sed by Mr. Lincoln. My expectations 
were realized, more than realized. Not 
only what he aaid, but his whole appear- 
ance impressed me that he was a true man, 
an extraordinary man, no party tool, no 
demagogue, but a man who in his words 
and acts was governed by his convictions 
of truth and duty. What kindness, sin- 
cerity, honesty, benignity, manliness shone 
forth from every feature of that noble, ex- 
pressive countenance! Those of you that 
ever saw and heard him understand what 
I mean. You believed in the man from 
the first. You were drawn to him. You 
were willing to trust him to any extent. 
You could not doubt him to be worthy of 
confidence. You went away feeling that 
he deserved to be called honest Abraham 
Lincoln. 

The intellect of Mr. Lmcoln was un- 
doubtedly of a very high order. It was 
as honest and straightforward as the heart 
of which it was the instrument. It was a 
clear, penetrating, comprehensive and pow- 
erful intellect. It went straight to the 
core of a subject to which it was applied. 
t believe that very few men among our 
statesmen hive been more nobly endowed 
in this respect than was our lamented Pres- 
ident. There could hardly be a severer » 



test of a man's intellectual caliber than 
that to which he was suhjected in bc-ing 
transferred, comparatively inexperienced, 
from SpringBeld to Washington, to be as- 
sociated with the wisest, ablest, greatest 
statesmen of our nation. But who among 
his learned and experienced associates but 
that felt himself obliged to respect the 
intellect of Abraham Lincoln? This alone, 
to say nothing of his success in a work 
of almost unparalleled difficulty, and the 
marvelous wisdom, sagacity and skill 
manifested by him in conducting the af- 
t'iirs of the nation amidst the excitements 
and perils of a long civil war, proves him 
to have possessed uncommon strength and 
power of intellect. And I can feel no sym 
pathy with any wlio may be disposed to 
speak lightly of his style of speaking an*) 
writing. It was a true expression of the 
man who was of the people, and who, be- 
fore all others, knew how to speJik to 
the people. The truth is that very few 
men have sufficient strength of intellt^ct 
and power of concentration to be capable 
of such a style. Few men are good and 
grt-at enough to speak as he did. Hi-< 
truthfulness, parnestness, straightforward 
ness, are expressed in every sentence. 
How dense, clt-ar, comprehensive and full 
of meanmg his sentences. He could not 
let himself down to mere rhetorical flour- 
ishes and sounding periods. He used 
w )rds to express his thought-;, and he suc- 
ceeded in expressing them with great 
c'earness and force. The noble man will 
long live in his noble utterances. 

Think too of his c^k^hr foresight and dis 
eernment of opportunity. How wise his 
reticence at the first and all along. N<> 
man ever knew better than he when tn 
speak and when not to speak and what to 
speak. He was the man to know and to 
seize the golden opportunity. What wis- 
dom, what comprehension of his work, 
manifested in his never miking great prom- 
ises, never trusting himself to utter proph- 
ecies, never saying too much but just 



enough, and never making a full declara- 
tion of his purpose till the time came for 
so doing. He knew his opportunity. He 
did not take a step till it was time to take 
it — did not take it to retrace it. He took 
no backward steps, hut from the first mov- 
ed steadily forward towards the great end, 
all the while gaining ground and never lo.s- 
ing it. Who has not felt that his great 
act of Emancipation was in just the right 
time, not a day too early nor a day too 
late ? Two or three years ago, you perhaps 
thought that you were wiser than Abra- 
ham Lincoln — that you knew wh.at he 
ought to do and when he ought to do it bet- 
ter than he did. But let me ask you if 
you have rot changed your mind? Are 
vou not prepared to say that our lamented 
President, while doubtless sometimes er- 
ring in judgment, being only a mm, was 
on the whole characterized by extraordina- 
ry wisdom and foresight? ' 

Rise into a higher region and think of 
his moral qualities — his uprightness, in- 
tegrity, conscientiousness, his inflexible ad- 
herence to his convictions of duty and 
right. Oh, men and brethren, where 
among our rulers is one who fully equals 
him in these respects? He was a truly 
humble man, above pride and vanity ; per- 
fectly free from any thing like dash, bravado, 
bluster, show Carried up from his law 
office in Sprintjfield to the highest positi"n 
»n earth, put in command of the greatest 
armies of modern times and of all the re- 
sources of a great nation conspicuous to 
all the world by reason of his high office 
ind the unsurpassed giandeur of his 'york 
IS the leader in the greatest of causes, be 
semed unconscious of his elevation, and 
hardly to think that the eyes of the world 
jvere turned upon him, but only of doing 
the work set to his hands with the utmost 
H ielity. He was the same kind, genial, 
approachable, brotherly man in Washing- 
ton that he had been in Springfield, never 
during his whole terra of office uttering 
one word or performing one act, indicating 



'13 



a desire to attract attention and praise to 
himsflf or any consciousness that he was 
rendering great services. The servant of 
the people, he clainaed no reward for the 
faithful doing of his duty. He affords us 
an cXiTiple of a man carried up from a 
comparatively humhle to the highest posi- 
tion, without any feeling of exalta'ion, 
without any sense of being separated frjm 
the great mass of the people, without be 
coming any less kindly, sympathetic and 
approachable, than he was before his eleva- 
tion. Does not this prove true greatness of 
soul? And think of his noble magnamin- 
ity. How careful to disclaim meiit not 
belonging to him ! How utterly free from 
all jealousy of his subordinates! How 
utterly incapable of regarding them as ri 
vals? Without the slightest ftar lest he 
may not be duly appreciated and honored, 
without a particle of the unmanly rivalry 
and jealousy which have sometimes work- 
ed out in the conduct of our Generals to- 
wards each other, the great good man with 
all his heart joins with the people in hon 
oring the Generals for their noble exploits; 
nor can he rest till he has told everybody 
that the plan of the great campaign, which 
gave us Richmond, did not originate with 
him St all, but altogether with G(-neral 
Grant, to whom therefore the whole merit 
of it belongs. And what remarkable self- 
maatery and calm self possession were his 
amidst the storm and whirlwind of our 
great war. Othcs sometimes in a tow 
ering passion, but he never; the whole 
nation rocked with excitements again and 
again, but he apparently never excited ; 
others often fearful and despairing, but he 
always hopeful, cheerful, and standing un 
flinchingly at the h-lm, with the firm de- 
termination to save the ship and the firm 
belief that it could be saved. Bitterly op 
posed by rebel sympathizers in Congress; 
plotted against by armed conspiracies in 
the free States; pursued unremittingly 
with abuse and detraction by those not 
worthy to unloose his shoe-latchet ; some- 



times distrusted, denounced and his ability 
questioned even by his friends; counselled, 
on one side, by ignorance and fanaticism, 
to move f ster ; warned, on the other side, 
by pro'slavery conservatism, that he was 
moving too fast ; this man, doubtless some- 
times carrying a bleeding heart in his bo- 
som, yet conscious to himself of rectitude 
and of having done his best to save the na- 
tion, patiently and courageously pursued 
his way, ruling his own spirit, and never, 
throughout the whole stormy period of his 
service as President, uttered one word of 
impatience or comphint or resentment — 
never one angry, passionate word — hardly 
a word from which it could be inferred 
that he had any knowledge of the shame- 
less reproach and abuse of which he was 
the object or the contempt and hatred with 
which many regarded him. Was there 
ever a more striking example of perfect self- 
mastery ? 

It is hardly necessary to speak of a 
thing so manifest as his great Madness of 
heart — an almost womanly tenderness. 
How very hard for him to sign a death 
warrant. How hard to say no to one who 
applied for a favor. Hence doubtless he 
sometimes yielded when he should not — 
yielded in things of small importance or 
only remotely connected with his great 
work, while he never swerved for a mo- 
ment from the great end, but pursued it 
with unyielding firmness and without the 
shadow of a turning. An extraordinary 
man, a truly great soul, doubtless, has 
been taken from us. I loved and revered 
the man more and more. I never felt such 
a regard for any other man among our ru- 
lers. I have no reverence for mere intel- 
lect, learning, eloquence, executive ability, 
nor for all those qualities in combination; 
hence I have not a particle of reverence for 
some who have been regarded the great 
men of the nation. There is a greater 
thing than mere power of intellect and will ; 
that greater thing is character, involving es- 
sentially reverence for the eternal right, for 



the law of God — involving the fear of the 
Lcrd; and that greater thing, that crowning 
glory of a nian, Abraham Lincoln posses 
8ed. For this reason, above all others, I loved 
and revered him. He was in the true 
sense a God fearing man. How frequently, 
how nobly, did he speak from his high seat 
in honor of the living God. How humbly 
did he acknowledge that a higher than 
any human will di'ected the affairs of tho 
nation, regarding himself as the mere in- 
strument of that will. In speaking of 
successes with what unaffected humility 
and faith did he ascribe the glory of them 
to God in 'he words, "No human counsel 
bath devised, nor hath anv mortal worked 
out these great things. They are the pre- 
cious gifts of the most High God, who, 
while dealing with us in angt-r for our sins, 
has nevertheless remembered mercy." And 
what memorable, immortal wi-rds are those 
of his last message, in which he recognizes 
the justice of G )d in bringing upo'i us the 
war as a punishment for the sin of slave- 
ry, and declares that the judgments of th-- 
Lord are true and righteous altogether. 
The pious heart of the nation was touch- 
ed by his request to he prayed for as he 
was leaving his home for, the seat of Gov- 
ernment. In the bfginning of his work 
be recogoiz'd his dependence on G 'd li< 
all success in the prosctution of it. D luht 
less there never lived a m'ln for wlio n so 
many earnest prjiyers were offered. M ne 
than than this: h^^ was himself a prayi"j: 
man. I h'iVe it on the ne-it nuthoritv ttia 
he was in the habit of rising in the ino-n 
in<j !»l f»u.' o'clo(!k and spendnig an hou 
ill tfie study of the sciptures and in pra> 
er. Thu- r lioii )o ap )e irs to our vi-'^v a 
the croivf\inuj u;lory of his characte!'. H'- 
excrHent natural qualitn s of miori -i 
L-ait IV oe en 10 > eil aod adorned by a -i'- 
C re and un ff ct'd piety. N) wond r tJie 
r> itioii litVi-d hi(n -loved him as it nev.- 
1 >ved aoorher. He was the best an 1 g'H.- 
e-i, t'le gieatest b-'Cause the best, the in i-' 
lovii g, the most lovable, the most broihei- 



ly, the most fatherly man of all our 
rulers. Who of us but that feels that ho 
has lost in him a dear friend ? Alas, never 
shall we see his like again — never in an- 
other the same remarkable combinations 
of noble qualities. The nation had but 
one Washington, and it can have but one 
Abraham Lincoln. How remarkable the 
affection of the people for this man ! What 
a proof of his real greatness and his un- 
common nobleness of nature. Four years 
ago we regarded dim siiupiy as able 
and trustworthy ; after a long trial as se- 
vere and searching as any one ever pass- 
ed through, the man was fully revealed to 
us: he came forth with such unquestion- 
able proofs of great ability and profound 
wisdom, and of his Btness for his high po- 
sition, and with such evidences of extraor- 
dinary loveliness and excellence of char- 
acter and greatness of soul, that we 
unconsciously yielded him not only our 
respect but also our love and reverence ; 
and now that he is taken from us, we 
nourn a^ for a brother or a father ; even 
rn iny of those who opposed his re-election, 
f^^eling a deep and sincere sorrow in view 
of his untimely death. Certainly this proves 
one of the gre-itest triumphs ever achieved. 
Our lamented President failed, I think, in 
one thing: He never seemed to cornpre- 
'lend fully the depravity and malice ani- 
mating the rebellion and its leaders, and 
hence was perhaps inclined to the extreme 
if lenity. Dr. Breckenridge of Kentucky, 
who years au;o spoke out so strongly 
■ gainst the policy of coi.ciliation, compre- 
hends it better. Andrew Johnson compre- 
■ler.ds it better. But for Mr. Lincoln, with 
'IIS great, loving, brotherly, heart, it was 
.lm>st too much to believe that the rebel 
leiders »re thoroughly malicious and re- 
V n^eful, hardly capable of any generous 
-ientiment, or of appreciating generosity 
ifid kindness in others. Hi -as himself 
incapable of a depravity so devilish, aiid 
naturally found it hard to believe others 
•apatile of it. '"With malice towards none, 



6 



with churity for all, witb firmness in the 
right;" hoping that those lost to all truly 
manly noble sentiments mis^ht be concilia- 
ted and brought back by kindness; believ- 
ing that the incorrigible might possibly be 
brought to repentance and reclaimed ; be- 
lieving that none could be guilty of a de 
pravity so deep and damnable as to carry 
into execution the threats against his life; 
the noble loving, trusting man went 
on his way till at last he f«ll a victim 
to the hellish malignity which so long and 
patiently he had labored to subdue by 
kindness. 

Thus I have given you, very hastily and 
imperfectly, my honest impressions of this 
remarkable man ; good as he was great; 
great as he was good. Thank God for so 
shining an example among our statesmen, 
f>rso pure a life, for so noble a->d great 
a ch;iracter. 

Turn now to contemplate for a moment his 
death by vi' lence as a Prorndential event. 
One of the most startling and powerful 
events in the history of th« world, and by 
far the most powerful in our history as a 
nation, it is doubtless one of the great 
master strokes of P.ovidence, a pregnant 
und germinant event that will send its con- 
sequences far down the ages. Think of the 
peculiar and remarkable combination of 
circumstances under which it took place— 
a tumult of joy and thankfulness through- 
out the land; illuminations, festivities, ju- 
bilations everywhere; the great rebel ar- 
my routed and ciptured ; slavery over- 
thrown ; the war virtualy ended ; the reb- 
el capital at last entered in triumph by the 
worthy President, to be honored . s almost 
never a man was honored before— not as a 
conquerer exhibiting the spoils of the van 
quished and followed by noble captives in 
chaiws, but as the conqurrer of an iron, 
heartless despotism, hailed with a wild 
outburst of joy by an emancipated race — 
the poor aad long oppressed greeting him 
with transports of delight as their deliver- 
er and Father, streachiog forth their sable 



unfettered hands towards him, leaping, 
dancing and singing around him, and 
showering benedictions upon his head ! 
Oh, my friends, what a triumph was that! 
infinitely surpassing in true grandeur and 
sublimity all the triumphs of all the des- 
pots of all the ages ! Now how remarka- 
ble that the fatal atrocious deed, following 
so closely upon these events, was perpe- 
trated just four years from the beginning 
of the war in the storming of Sumter, 
and on the very day of the ceremonies 
connected with ' the raising of the 
Hag upon th 5 bitterred wslls of 
that Fortress — a sign that the great war 
was virtually ended. Can we, th-n, help 
feeling that the hand of Go! is revealed 
most strikingly in the ci amitous event? 
In the contemplation of this remarkable 
conjuncture of facts, I have the sense of 
completeness, of a dispensation closed, of a 
noble work done, of a worthy instrum^;nt 
used till it had served its purpose, and then 
laid aside bec^iuse no longer wanted. One of 
the greatestand most memorable triumphs, 
in a'l history, having been achieved, how 
fitting that the good man and wise leader 
should die, taking his departure amidst the 
general joy of a redeemed nation. Im- 
mortal till his work was done, all the hate 
of his enemies being utterly impotent 
against him till he had fully served the 
purpose of God, how fitting at hist that, 
with so many and so manifest indications 
thit his work was done, he should be re- 
moved from the stage on which he had so 
worthily and successfully acted the part as- 
signed him. 

Abraham Lincoln, noble martyr of liber- 
ty, his memory to be cherished evermore 
in the deepest heart of the nation, his 
name to breath forth to all coming genera- 
tons the fragrance of a manly, noble 
I'laracter and of worthy achievements, his 
.;reat work in the cause of hu.uanity en- 
snrining him forever in the hearts of the 
niilions of the oppressed in this and other 
lands, his death rousing a sorrowing in- 



dignant nation to the work of extirpating; 
the last vestiges of sbivcry and rebellion 
from the soil of the republic, and thus 
powerfully heloing on the good cause — 
Honest Abraham Lincoln had been honor- 
ed as few men ever were or will be — honor 
ed as the instrument of doing a work which 
associates him with the world's greatest 
benefactors ; he had fulfilled the purpose for 
which God raised him up, and he passed 
off the stage because socae different instru 
ment was needed for the full accomplish - 
ment of the Divine purpose in the affairs 
of cur nation. 

Nor can we fail to notice the hand of 
God, not only in his death, but also in the 
preservation of others who with him were 
devoted to destruction. Of the six assas- 
sins, how remarkable that only one did the 
work assigned him. How remarkable that 



melting power to all ages and gpni;ritio^ 
there was a necessity that it should be 
caused by the depravity of men, thus re- 
vealing the terrible nature of human de- 
pravity as murderously hostile to holy in- 
nocence and righteousness, and being also 
adapted to excite the deepest mdignation 
against it as ra;ilia;nant and diabolical in 
its own nature. In like manner, doubtles^J, 
God intended deeply, and powerfully to 
move this nation by the death ot Abraham 
Lmcolr.. Hence his death by violence. 
If he had died by disease, we should have 
felt sorrow, but not in'iignation. It is not 
simpy Ithe fact of his death, but specially 
the fa'^t that he was foully murdered by 
the hand of a cowardly traitor — murdered 
because he was a good and wise man and 
^the friend of all humanity — murdered be- 
cause he was so successfully crushing out 



Mr. Seward was saved from death simply the rebellion and with it the despotism in 



by the wire which had been used in 
the setting of his fractured jaw-bone. How 
remarkable too that, with the great and 
difficult work of reconstruction yet to be 
done, a man of Southern birth, education 
and training is suddenly brought to the 
Presidential chair ! Surely in view ot such 
facts we must say, "This is the finger of 
God." And the hand of God appears not 
only in the death of the lamented Presi- 
dent, bnt equally in the fact that it was 
death by violence. In the murder of Abra- 
ham Lincoln because he was a good and 
just man, and the highest representative of 
the cause of freedom and humanity in all 
the earth, many have noticed a resemb- 
lance to the death of the innocent holy Re- 
deemer by the hands of wicked men. 
There is no exact parallel, but there is a 
manifest resemblance. The same lawless, 
malignant spirit, which crucified the Son 
of God, worked out in the murder of our 
honored President. Now the purpose of 
of God in the death of Jesus Christ would 
not have been answered at all, if he had 
died simply by disease. In order that the 
death of Christ might be full of moving 



which it is grounded — murdered by the 
infernal malice of slavery — it is this which 
has stirred the heart of the nation as it 
was never stirred before — stirred i t from 
the deepest depths against the great ini- 
quity of slavery — stirred it not only with 
sorrow for the irrepirable loss, but with 
the deepest indignation against the terrible 
evil which is the source of our troubles. 
This evil is at last fu'ly revealed in its 
truly fiendish and horrible nature, and we 
hate it as never before. Thus ttie death of 
Abraham Lincoln, caused by slavery, 
which reached the culmination of its vil- 
lainies in the astounding crime, is more 
powerful against wrong and oppression and 
on the side of freedom and humanity, than 
was his life; and it is powerful unto all 
ages. Thus plainly and remarkably does 
the wisdom of him who is excellent in 
counsel and wonderful in working, appear 
in this most afflictive event; and we have 
an il'ustration of the truth that God will 
cause the wrath of man to praise him and 
restrain the remainder. "The blood of the 
martyrs is the seed of the Church;" and 
doubtless the blood of this noble martyr 



8 



of liberty is the seed of free institutions — 
seed that shall spring forth in a glorious 
harvest over the whole continent, and be 
sown broadcast to spring up and bring 
forth its excellent and beautiful fruits in 
other lands and nations. 

Notice now, in conclusion, some of the 
lessons of the mournful event. 

1. The frailty of man and the greatness 
of God. 

2. That we have to do with a Ruler 
greater than the President and a law high- 
er than the Constitution. The President 
is not the mere creation of the people, but 
'•the minister of God," raised to power to 
serve a Divine purpose, and removed the 
moment that purpose is served. God rules 
in our national affairs, and our duty is en- 
tire submission. 

3. That God is working out a purpose in 
our nation. How clearly is that purpose 
now revealed. How clear that "the righteous 



Lord loveth righteousness." How clear that 
God "executeth righteousness and judg- 
ment for all that are oppressed." Let us 
be with our whole hearts on God's side, 
and work earnestly towards the end which 
he is seekins to accomplish. 

4. Our absolute dependence. We owe 
our successes to our armies, navies, gener- 
als, only as the instrurants which God \\%& 
used in furthering the great cause of free- 
dom and humanity. "His own right hand 
and his glorious arm have gotten him the 
victory." Let us therefore humbly acknowl- 
edge our dependence, work earnestly in the 
direction of his will, and offer up our 
prayers that he will carry forward his 
work m our land till all our institutions 
shall be established in righteousness. Then 
our highest hopes shall be realized. "The 
work of righteousness shall be peace, and 
the effect of righteousness, quietness and 
assurance forever." 




'i!&.:ji 



"7oiV837 580 4» 



